David Thomas(“Dave”), (born July 2, 1932, Atlantic City, N.J.—died Jan. 8, 2002, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) American businessman who , was the founder (1969) of the Wendy’s fast-food restaurants and built the company into the world’s third largest hamburger chain, with more than 6,000 locations; to the general public, however, he was the folksy, avuncular Wendy’s pitchman in more than 800 TV commercials. An adoptee himself, Thomas sought to help find homes and families for children without them and created the nonprofit Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

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